Content exchange apparatus

• US 20010049732A1
• Filed: 05/29/2001
• Published: 12/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Raciborski, Nathan F., Thompson, Mark R.
• Application Number:
  US09/870,302
• Publication Number:
  US 20010049732A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/09 Obsolescence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/604 Address structures or formats
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/663 Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/30 Routing of multiclass traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4552 Lookup mechanisms between a plurality of directories; Synchronisation of directories, e.g. metadirectories
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5069 for group communication, multicast communication or broadcast communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 : for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10015 : Access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. using brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 : based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 : based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 : using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 : Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 : Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 : Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 : Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 : Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 : Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 : Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 : Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols

Abstract

According to the invention, a content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects is disclosed. Included in the content exchange apparatus are a content store, a content tracker, an origin server database, and a catalog of content objects. The content store includes a plurality of content objects. A determination is made by the content tracker determines as to which content objects are stored in the content store. The origin server database includes a list of origin servers associated with the content exchange. The catalog of content objects stored in the content store is maintained.

Claims

1. A content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects, the content exchange apparatus comprising:

a content store comprising a plurality of content objects;

a content tracker that determines the content objects stored in the content store;

an origin server database comprising a list of origin servers associated with the content exchange; and

a catalog of content objects stored in the content store.

2. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, wherein the list of origin servers is modified to exclude a particular origin server when a determination is made that the particular origin server is no longer available.

3. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, wherein the list of origin servers contains some origin servers that have no content objects stored in the content exchange.

4. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, wherein content objects associated with a particular origin server are removed from the content store when a determination is made that the particular origin server is no longer available.

5. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, wherein:

the content store is divided into a first section and a second section;

the first section comprises a cache where less frequently requested content objects are purged in favor of more frequently requested content objects; and

the second section comprises a file system where content objects remain stored in the content store for a period of time regardless of request frequency.

6. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, further comprising a content controller, wherein the content controller finds a requested content object not presently retained in the content store.

7. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, further comprising a content controller, wherein the content controller finds a requested content object not presently retained in the content store on one of:

another content exchange and the origin server.

8. The content exchange apparatus for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 1

, further comprising an information repository comprising status information related to the content exchange.

9. A content storing system for cacheing content objects, the content storing system comprising:

a first content exchange;

a second content exchange; and

a content bus coupled to the first and second content exchanges, wherein;

the first content exchange comprises an origin server database comprising a list of origin servers associated with the first content exchange, and

the list of origin servers contains a plurality of origin servers that have no content objects stored in the first content exchange.

10. The content storing system for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 9

, wherein the list of origin servers is modified to exclude a particular origin server when a determination is made that the particular origin server is no longer available.

11. The content storing system for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 9

, wherein content objects associated with a particular origin server are removed from the content store when a determination is made that the particular origin server is no longer available.

12. The content storing system for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 9

, wherein:

the second content exchange is divided into a first section and a second section;

the first section comprises a cache where less frequently requested content objects are purged in favor of more frequently requested content objects; and

the second section comprises a file system where content objects remain stored in the second content exchange for a period of time regardless of request frequency.

13. The content storing system for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 9

, wherein the content bus transports a requested content object not presently retained in the first content exchange from the second content exchange.

14. The content storing system for cacheing content objects as recited in

claim 9

, further comprising a content controller, wherein the content bus transports a requested content object not presently retained in the first content exchange from one of the second content exchange and an origin server.

15. A method for caching content objects in a content exchange, the method comprising steps of:

storing content objects requested from the content exchange;

receiving information about an origin server from that origin server;

storing the information in a database;

determining a network address for the origin server using the database; and

contacting one of the origin server and another content exchange when a content object request results in a cache miss.

16. The method for caching content objects in the content exchange as recited in

claim 15

, wherein the database comprises an origin server identifier and an origin server address for each associated origin server.

17. The method for caching content objects in the content exchange as recited in

claim 15

, wherein the storing step comprises a step of storing an origin server identifier and an origin server address for each associated origin server.

18. The method for caching content objects in the content exchange as recited in

claim 15

, wherein the determining step comprises a step of querying the database for an origin server address associated with a provided origin server identifier.

19. The method for caching content objects in the content exchange as recited in

claim 15

, wherein the contacting step comprises steps of:

determining if any other content exchange has at least a portion of the content object;

requesting the portion if the portion is found on any other content exchange; and

requesting the portion from the origin server if the portion is not found on any other content exchange.